Series Review: Cocktail by Alice Clayton

Series Review: Is this series worth your time? Does it get better as the novels progress? Or does it get worse? Find out below:

Synopsis for Wallbanger (from Goodreads):
The first night after Caroline moves into her fantastic new San Francisco apartment, she realizes she’s gaining an intimate knowledge of her new neighbor’s nocturnal adventures. Thanks to paper-thin walls and the guy’s athletic prowess, she can hear not just his bed banging against the wall but the ecstatic response of what seems (as loud night after loud night goes by) like an endless parade of women. And since Caroline is currently on a self-imposed dating hiatus, and her neighbor is clearly lethally attractive to women, she finds her fantasies keep her awake even longer than the noise. So when the wallbanging threatens to literally bounce her out of bed, Caroline, clad in sexual frustration and a pink baby-doll nightie, confronts Simon Parker, her heard-but-never-seen neighbor. The tension between them is as thick as the walls are thin, and the results just as mixed. Suddenly, Caroline is finding she may have discovered a whole new definition of neighborly…

In a delicious mix of silly and steamy, Alice Clayton dishes out a hot and hilarious tale of exasperation at first sight…

Why I Picked it Up / My Expectations:

The Cocktail Series, is a popular title in the adult contemporary romance world. I stumbled upon it after reading and loving Tangledby Emma Chase. It’s hard to find that great contemporary read that balances romance, humour and plotline without going over the top or by creating annoying characters (coughcoughShopaholic). So my expectations were high for this one given the great reviews on Goodreads.

The Plot:

Like most contemporary romances, there isn’t much plot besides the relationship between the two leads. But the sign of a great romance book (at least to me) is when you don’t even realize there isn’t much going on and you really don’t care because you are having such a FANTASTIC time reading it!

The humour in this series is great! It was funny, fun and highly entertaining. At the start, I worried that Caroline would go a little off her rocker or become a ditsy, one-track heroine a la Becky from Confessions of a Shopaholic, but she was funny, charming and so real despite the slightly ridiculous situation she finds herself in. And the same can be said about the other heroines in the series–even if I didn’t love their stories as much as that first novel.

Just a note on the sequel to Caroline and Simon’s story (Rusty Nailed). I thought it was going to be boring and monotonous but I enjoyed it quite a bit. I thought it was realistic and a nice way to close their story, though it definitely wasn’t needed.

The Characters:

Great stories need great characters and the cast in this series is so much fun! These characters aren’t overly complex but they have enough unique quirks that keep them interesting. And I’m not just talking about the leads either!

Not only did I fall in love with Simon and Caroline, I also fell in love with their friends (and the other eventual leads in the other books). The supporting characters kept my attention and added to the plot but I never felt like they overshadowed the leads in any way.

The Romance:

Sigh…I loved the romance between Caroline and Simon. The development is everything I crave in a romance. It starts with great sexual tension, expands the emotional connection and has a few close encounters before the big moment. These two just fit so well together and it was apparent to me why they liked each other so much. I definitely added them to my favourite couples lists by the time I finished Wallbanger.

I also liked the relationships between the other characters in the connected books, Screwdrivered and Mai Tai’d Up. Well developed and fun. They are definitely slow burn romances but nothing is wrong with that!

Series Rating: 4/5

Normally, I’m not a fan of slow burn romances but this series is an exception! I had so much fun reading these books and watching these characters act out all their shenanigans! Probably one of my favourite groups of characters in a romance series!

Read if You Like: humour, great supporting charactersAvoid if You: don’t like slow burn romance, want an erotica